Trade in top Asian top coffee producers Vietnam and Indonesia continued on a sluggish note this week on dwindling stockpiles in both countries, traders said on Thursday. Farmers in Daklak, Vietnam's main coffee growing province, are selling beans at 43,500-43,800 dong ($1.91-$1.93) per kg, up slightly from 42,000-43,000 dong a week earlier, tracking gains in London prices, traders said.
London ICE January futures rose as much as 4.46 percent in the past week to $1,990 a tonne on October 4, the highest intraday level in more than a week, Thomson Reuters data showed. Few exports deals were struck due to weak demand and low supply at the end of the October-September crop season in Vietnam, while the harvest is not yet in full swing. Importers wanted the 5 percent black and broken grade 2 robusta at a discount of $30-$40 to the January contract, while exporters sought to sell at par, traders said.
Vietnam exported 1.49 million tonnes of coffee in the 2016/2017 crop year, down 14.3 percent from 2015/2016 as output fell due to heavy rains during last year's harvest, customs data showed. In Indonesia, grade 4 defect 80 robusta beans in Lampung province were quoted at a premium of $10-$20 to the November contract, as against a $10 premium last week, a trader said. Exporters are only fulfilling their signed contracts as supplies have run out, while the rest of the market is quiet, the trader said.